By Alex Cornacchia, Contributing Writer
Shrewsbury – There’s a moment about a minute and fifteen seconds into the video of Nicole Quinn’s solo for the Dance Masters of New England’s 2013 Teen Miss Dance competition. She’s facing the audience head-on, right arm extended straight up, left arm parallel to the ground, bent at a 90-degree angle in front of her chest. The fingers on her left hand are bunched tight in a fist; those on her right stretched out as far as they can reach. Slowly, she bends her right elbow, closing the gap between right hand and left. Her knees bend, too, carefully lowering her body toward the floor. It’s a mesmerizing combination of tension and fluidity, and she’s completely inside it the music, her body, that moment in time. The motion is striking not for any flashy or sensational reason, but because of her absolute control. She’s holding the audience with her gaze, making them wonder how long she’ll stretch out the suspension. And then, with one percussive beat, it’s gone.
To have that focus and ability to command attention isn’t easy, even less so in front of a crowd, at a competition, at the age of 15. This wasn’t lost on the judges – she won the title of Teen Miss Dance of New England that year. Two years later she dropped the “teen” to become Miss Dance of New England 2015, then placed fourth runner-up in the Dance Masters of America National Convention in July. And she’s just getting started.
That Nicole would end up dancing for at least some portion of her life was pretty much inevitable.
“I always knew that if I had a daughter she would take ballet lessons,” said her mother Pam.
And since Nicole’s older brother, Sam, had fallen in love with dance by the time she came onto the scene, it made sense that by age 3 she would be right there at Charlotte Klein dancing with him.
“Sam was already in the studio, so my mom just stuck me in there with him,” Nicole laughed. “But I’m glad she did.”
Despite the dance world’s tendency to pit people against one another in competitive rivalries, the two siblings have managed to maintain a close relationship over the years. As Nicole increased her hours spent in the studio over the years, entering competitions and training in evermore styles of dance, Sam helped her to navigate the trickier aspects of the art form. They’ve performed onstage together, Sam has choreographed solos for Quinn’s competitions, and in the fall, Nicole will be attending Sam’s alma mater, The University of Arizona, as a freshman dance major.
Pam admitted she is glad that her daughter has had guidance along the way – as hard as it may have been for Sam to find success as a dancer, it tends to be even more difficult for women.
“There are half a dozen good girls for every one boy,” Pam explained.
Dancing in a sibling’s footsteps seems like it could take a toll after a while, but Quinn said she’s never felt like she was in her brother’s shadow. She knows who she is as a dancer, already has her sights set on a company after college – River North Dance in Chicago. She said she’s nervous about this next step, but more than that, she’s excited. She’s in control, ready for that moment when it’s just her, the stage and the dance.